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by Fred Kirby April 6, 2005
 Council
reminds me of a drunk who has won a lottery. With little thought for the
future the drunk blows the money. I do not know what council is drinking
but, no doubt, we are going to pay for it sometime.
The Ontario government
mandated policing costs to be shared equally across a municipality. To
bring Kincardine in line there needed to be a tax decrease to Ward 1 and
an increase for Wards 2 and 3. That is as it should be. Ward 1 has been
carrying 70% of the costs since amalgamation. Councillor Hewitt (Ward 2)
should be honest with the constituents and acknowledge we in Ward 2 have
been getting a break in taxes for police servicing since amalgamation.
Unfortunately, we have a council apparently bereft of financial acumen.
Council plans to take $650,000, plus money received from the Nuclear Waste
deal and BMTS income simply to avoid a tough decision. Council wants to
help me pay my taxes from income belonging to all ratepayers; thanks but
no thanks. Will council next offset the extraordinary tax bills paid for
lakeshore property? Why not? Take it out of a reserve fund; rob kiddies’
piggy banks if you must just so long as it satisfies the “me-me-me” values
of Ron Hewitt and his fellow travelers.
The proposed tourist booth
raises $600,000 worth of questions. I realize commercial building
standards must be observed but how does the business plan justify $600,000
to display appropriate literature and perhaps a video. We appear to be
looking at a booth grander than the one in Stratford which serves
thousands of visitors every year and is located downtown. Better had Ron
Hewitt questioned the merit of the plan rather than ask what ward will pay
for it. Ron gives another impelling reason why we need councillors elected
across the municipality to act for the good of all.
Kincardine is a corporation
with an operating budget of $19 million and a capital budget of $13.2
million along with ownership of BMTS and a share of Westario plus a number
of municipal properties. Perhaps it is too big for those who cannot see
outside the box, make hard decisions and are unable to grow in the job
even after years in office.
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